Day 4: नेकी कर दरिया में दाल

That's a proverb in Hindi which literally translates into "Do a good deed & throw it in the river" but really it means that the good deeds that you do are not meant to be spoken about, are not meant to be tom-tom'ed. Just do the good deed and forget about it. I guess it goes back to the basic Hindu tenet of 'karma' - do the work and don't worry about the results.

But why am I suddenly talking about good deeds and rivers? Because as much as I am a firm believer in the proverb I also wonder if we do the good deeds that we do with a selfish motive. I am a firm believer that all of us are selfish - its just how you define selfishness that makes the difference. Do we do the donations, the contributions to feel good about ourselves or to assuage any guilt that we have?

There are different kinds of people, right? Of course there are........even when it comes to charity. There are some who do it quietly without ever talking about it - people like Amitabh Bachchan but then again he's started talking about it on his blog, there are those who do it and then talk about it not with any ulterior motive but maybe to make sure that the charity is known and the organisation attracts more people to it and then there are what I believe the best of all - those who actually donate their time and effort and energy to some activity.

I have the highest regard for the last category ones mainly because I have never been able to cross that line. As much as I want to donate my time, there is always something else that comes up. My friend - Jeanette Fuccella - is one of them and I respect her highly for it. And then there is the fantastic campaign from Times of India called 'Teach India' which is the line I have not been able to cross. I want to do it and maybe one day I will.

But really coming back to the topic how many of us really do a good deed and never think about it - even subconsciously. Do we do that deed just so that we can feel good or get over our guilt feeling and be able to say that we did something for the 'underprivileged' and the money that I earn is worth it. How much of our philanthropy is absolutely selfless with no expectations? I wonder. I think that everyone who does charity has an ulterior motive - to earn goody points in the book of life so that when they go up in front of HIM they can say that I did all this for those who needed help.

But the sad part (or is it the good part) is that in this fast paced busy life of ours we replace time with money and believe that we've done a good deed. We donate money to various charities and think that our नेकी (good deed) has been done. Lets get on with life and move on to the next one. I think its time that we put 'time' into our charitable efforts and give back some good to the world.

I bring this up also because even if you are the 'money donation' variety, its good. At least you do something and your contribution makes a difference to few lives. I suddenly brought up this topic because I got the snap at the beginning of the post in today's email. That is Kunal, a 3 yr old boy suffering from cancer and all he wanted was a cricket set. He does not know how long he will live and it breaks my heart because my son is just 2 and I cannot I cannot imagine him like this. Charities like Make a Wish Foundation help to fulfill the last wishes of kids with serious illness. It takes a little bit of money to fill his face with a smile and faces of many such children.

Please go to the site and do whatever you can. I did and I was rewarded with this beautiful smile!